Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson, OBE (also known as Nancy Cook and Nancy Benko; 9 March 1910 – 21 December 1999) was an Australian bacteriologist. In the 1950s, she was recognised as one of the world's leading authorities on bacteriology, and led research on Salmonella bacteria, antibiotic and vaccine development, and the isolation of the poliovirus.[1]

Nancy Atkinson OBE
Atkinson in 1947, from a profile in The Mail of Adelaide
Born	(1910-03-09)9 March 1910 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died	21 December 1999(1999-12-21) (aged 89) Adelaide, South Australia
Nationality	Australian
Other names	Nancy Cook Nancy Benko
Alma mater	University of Melbourne
Awards	Officer of the Order of the British Empire (1951)
Scientific career
Fields	Bacteriology
Institutions	University of Adelaide Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science

Early life and education

Atkinson was born in Melbourne, Australia. She began studying a Bachelor of Science at the University of Melbourne, majoring in chemistry but eventually switching to the relatively new field of bacteriology.[2][3] She graduated with the bachelor's degree in 1931, and with a Master of Science in 1932, then worked as a research scholar and demonstrator at the university's Department of Bacteriology from 1932 to 1937.[4]

Scientific career

In 1937, Atkinson transferred to the Government of South Australia's Laboratory of Pathology and Bacteriology in Adelaide. The next year, the laboratory was incorporated into the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science as part of the University of Adelaide. Atkinson continued to work part-time at the institute, whilst also lecturing in bacteriology at the university. She was promoted to lecturer-in-charge in 1942, and reader-in-charge of bacteriology in 1952, whereupon she joined the university full-time.[4]

Atkinson's early work at the IMVS involved the development, production and administration of the BCG vaccine in Australia to combat tuberculosis, as encouraged by Darcy Cowan.[5] Atkinson and her team at the institute were responsible for manufacturing the first batch of penicillin in Australia, after eighteen months of work produced enough of the antibiotic to cover a threepenny piece in 1943.[6] She also regularly put out calls for samples of Australian flora such as the Geraldton wax[7] and native fungi, which were then analysed to determine if they could be used to develop new anti-bacterial substances.[3] In 1943, Atkinson developed penicidin, an antibiotic which was proposed to be used as an alterative to penicillin, however the drug was reclassified in the 1960s as a mycotoxin.[8]

Atkinson specialised in the study of Salmonella bacteria. She established and ran the Salmonella Reference Laboratory (later the Australian Salmonella Reference Centre, a national reference laboratory), and published extensively on the subject.[9] In 1943, she discovered a new strain of the bacteria, which she named S. adelaide after South Australia's capital city.[10]

Honours

At the New Years Honours 1951, Atkinson was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[11]

In 1957, the University of Adelaide awarded Atkinson with a Doctor of Science (DSc) degree for her work on antibiotics and salmonellas.[2]

Personal life

Atkinson's first marriage was to Irving M. Cook, the manager of British Empire Films in South Australia.[12] They had a son, Jonathan, born in April 1948.[13]

Her second marriage was to architect Andrew Benko, with whom she founded and ran the Chalk Hill winery in the McLaren Vale region.[9] Under her married name, Nancy Benko, she wrote two books on Australian art—Art and Artists of South Australia and The Art of David Boyd[2]—as well as a biography of Gustave Barnes for the Australian Dictionary of Biography.[14]

References

1. "Didn't know of her O.B.E." The News. 56 (8, 549). South Australia. 1 January 1951. p. 1. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
2. "Dr. Nancy Atkinson (1910–99) Papers". University of Adelaide. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
3. "Woman Scientist's As Bacteriologist". The Advertiser. South Australia. 5 December 1945. p. 3. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
4. "Atkinson, Nancy (1910–1999)". Encyclopedia of Australian Science. The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
5. Angrove, Roger Clare. "1991 – Tuberculosis Control in South Australia". Royal Adelaide Hospital Health Museum. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
6. "The Making Of Penicillin". The News. 41 (6, 311). South Australia. 20 October 1943. p. 4. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
7. "Flowers May Give New Penicillin". Barrier Miner. LVII (16, 9[?]). New South Wales, Australia. 19 October 1944. p. 6. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
8. Ismaiel, Ahmed; Papenbrock, Jutta (23 July 2015). "Mycotoxins: Producing Fungi and Mechanisms of Phytotoxicity" (PDF). Agriculture. 5 (3): 492–537. doi:10.3390/agriculture5030492.
9. "Vale: Nancy Benko (Atkinson) OBE DSc (1910–1999)". Microbiology Australia: 46. March 2000.
10. Atkinson, Nancy (8 June 1943). "A new Salmonella type: Salmonella adelaide" (PDF). Australian Journal of Experimental Biology and Medical Science. doi:10.1038/icb.1943.23.
11. "COOK, Nancy (OBE)". It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
12. "Visit Of Film Company Manager". The Border Watch. 86 (9638). South Australia. 2 January 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
13. "Scientist's Son". The News. 50 (7, 717). South Australia. 29 April 1948. p. 11. Retrieved 14 April 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
14. Benko, Nancy (1979). "Barnes, Gustave Adrian (1877–1921)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.